Paige Foster said she felt sick knowing the culprits had been watching her

By Brittany Vonow

18th April 2017, 1:01 pm

Updated: 18th April 2017, 1:01 pm

By Brittany Vonow

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AN ESTATE agent claims brazen thieves used a laptop to hack her car keys before popping open the door of her £35,000 Mercedes and driving off.

Paige Foster said she was horrified when she realised the five-month-old car had vanished from outside her front door in Grays, Essex last week, despite the car keys remaining on the kitchen bench inside.

In the footage, one of the thieves can be seen holding an iPad or laptop in a leather satchel

Paige, who lives with partner partner Richard Haydon, said: "When I saw the video it made me feel sick – these people know where I live, they have obviously followed me or looked me up to find the car.

"It looks like the guy up against the house has an iPad or a laptop in the leather satchel which contains the device that picks up the signal – it looks like they can decode the key to open the car.

"We have been told it's some sort of Russian military software.

"When I saw the footage I burst into tears. The fact that someone was watching me and took it not even a metre away from the front of the house is awful."

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Paige reported the incident to the police and contacted her insurance company who flagged that an HPI vehicle background check had been run on the car on April 5 – six days before the Mercedes vanished.

The young woman said: "I feel awful – I don't feel safe in my home or in the area we've lived in for three years and I've told my partner I want to move.

Paige says the incident might leave the pair £5,000 out of pocket as she claims the insurers are only willing to pay the book value of the car, not the price they paid.

When I saw the footage I burst into tears. The fact that someone was watching me and took it not even a metre away from the front of the house is awful.

Paige FosterTheft victim

Paige is now sharing the CCTV footage in a bid to catch the culprits and also warn others about the hack it appears thieves can carry out.

Paige said: "Cars that have the Keyless Go system don't need the key to start the engine - it just needs to be within a certain distance, it's usually in my pocket.

"The night the car was taken the key was stored in the back of the house, not in the hallway near the front door.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I looked through the CCTV footage.

"I would try to avoid the keyless system in future and would strongly recommend people to look into the fob guard which protects the car's wireless system.

"Mercedes have been really helpful, they've tried to track the car down using the tracker but it looks like it's been deactivated."

Paige and her partner Richard Haydon shared footage of the theft to raise awareness

A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said: "We're sorry to learn about this customer's experience but we're not aware of any complaints resulting from theft related to keyless entry/start systems on Mercedes-Benz cars.

"All Mercedes-Benz vehicles have extensive security and anti-theft protection systems. Data security, data protection and anti-theft protection are important elements in our research and development activities.

"The development of protection and safety mechanisms is continued over the entire life cycle of a vehicle.

"When enhancing our protective mechanisms we take into account the latest knowledge about criminal methods and about attacks on security systems.

"We also offer our customers the option of deactivating the radio signal with two clicks of the key in order to prevent abuse."

Essex Police confirmed they were looking into the incident.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Police are investigating the theft of a car from an address in Grays.

"A black Mercedes Benz C220 was taken by two men between 10pm, Monday, April 10 and 9am Tuesday, April 11.

"The first suspect is described as being of large build and between 5ft5in and 6ft. He was wearing jeans and a black hooded top.

"The second suspect is described as being of skinny build and around 5ft5in tall. He was wearing jeans with a grey body warmer jacket."

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